Avanti W-789SA Washer

It's great, until it stops working

By Willard  Jun 19, 2009

Pros: Easy to move & operate. Plays music.

Cons: Durability. Service options.

Ordered ours in Dec. 2005. 1st unit arrived on 01/24/06 with shipping damage. Replaced on 03/15/06. Purchased extended (4 year) in-home warranty in Dec. 2005. Washer worked flawlessly for about 9 months. It developed a dragging noise while agitating, but still cleaned the clothes nicely. Very fast final spin cycle. It played a little music at the beginning and end of each laundry cycle. It stopped in the middle of a wash cycle on January 8th of this year. Avanti is not a major appliance line, so getting service on it I found out isn't all that easy. I live in the Denver metro area. A medium sized city. I had to contact a local distributor of Avanti products and they graciously checked with Avanti to try and find a service provider here. I mentioned purchasing an in-home extended warranty before. Huge mistake. I registered with RepairMaster after the washer arrived. I called the 1-800-292-7726 number on January 8th, and was given an authorization number for service, and no other help. The washer was diagnosed on January 27th, as having a bad main circuit board and a bad clutch assembly. I faxed the receipt for this diagnostic to Warrantech (the service company) for reimbursement on February 2nd. I haven't been reimbursed for the service charge, and had no communication from Warrantech. Today is June 19, 2009. I paid $89.00 for the warranty, and $90.00 for the diagnostic on January 27th. I think I will stop losing any more money on this deal. The washer was fun, and really cleaned well. It has a 6 foot power cord, and push buttons. The point here is the product is reasonably good. The warranty wasn't worth the paper it was printed on for me. If you consider this a disposable washer that will last maybe only a few years at most, then this may be a good choice for you. You have read that I have nothing good to say about the treatment I received from a so-called "service" company. Proceed at your own risk. You have been warned.